


Second Christmas

by xXxSorryBabyxXx (MattedZamo)



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: Eve's house is the same from the show cause author lacks originality, F/F, Office AU, Slow Burn, TWO christmas parties are invovled, Welcome to a christmas fic that i started on halloween, Whoop Whoop, but didn't post till new years, oh my god they were roommates, okay so, there's a divorce but it's brief and sexy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22060651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MattedZamo/pseuds/xXxSorryBabyxXx
Summary: In a world where getting a divorce was a good thing, at least Eve could count on her good friends Bill, Elena, and Oxana to be there for her during a confusing time.But in that same world, not all her feelings are always so cut and dry.
Relationships: Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	Second Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the last fic I'm gonna post...this year! We stan a Christmas fic posted during New Years, don't we?

Eve’s breath puffed softly against the glass door as she checked it for the umpteenth time, right before she checked her watch. Realistically, only a minute had passed since she last checked both, but in her head, it’s felt like an eternity. Gravy, her sweet tabby cat, rubbed up on her leg, sweetly asking for some affection. Automatically, she bent to pick him up but remembered that although she was in grey leggings and matching turtleneck and socks, she still wanted to come off with some air of presentability. 

She checked outside again. 

The phone vibrated on the countertop, vibrating harshly against the granite, and she sighed as she went to pick it up. She smiled when she saw it was Elena calling, also for the umpteenth time, and answered instead with a text. 

Eve:

 _Yes?_ [17:04]

Elena called again. 

“Hel-”

 _‘Don’t_ yes? _me! I’m being a good friend by worrying about you and you have the gall, the audacity, to yes? me? Really Eve?’_

Eve chuckled, tucking her unoccupied arm around her middle. Elena was out and about, that much could be heard, perhaps some last-minute things she had left to get. She checked outside. Still nothing. 

“Well, that’s because I’m a little busy.” Gravy meowed below her, still waiting, albeit a little impatient, for some pets. She’d give him a treat later. Maybe. “Hear that? Gravy demands attention and I’m failing at being a good cat mom.” 

_‘Ugh, don’t even start that Eve.’_ Eve laughed as Elena began to scuff and then curse at someone. _‘First off, I still can’t believe you actually decided to keep that thing and secondly, I’m having an even harder time believing you like calling yourself a cat mom. Tsk, fuck.’_

“Everything all right?” 

_‘Yeah, my dad was calling and I accidentally hung up on him. Whatever. He was probably trying to tell me about some score on the game.’_

Eve checked the window. Gravy parked himself to do the same. “I couldn’t leave him at a shelter, they were packed for the season.”

_‘That was last year.’_

“Gravy’s my emotional support rescue tabby and you know that, Elena.” She looked down at him, watched as his interest redirected him out of the kitchen. 

_‘Right then. I’ll let you get back to him, hopefully, I don’t die worrying myself sick over you.’_

“I love you, Elena, you’ll be fine.”

 _‘Love you too.’_

Eve put down the phone screen first to where it had been previously, deciding to give backyard gazing a momentary break.

All day had had her nervous, finding her dispersing the energy to deep cleaning the kitchen, living room, upstairs bathroom, and bedroom. Everything was left in a fresh scent, and while the sun was out, she had opened the curtains and windows, ignoring the way her passing neighbours looked at her funny. 

She was given a break, though. 

With her upper body deep in the fridge, trying to take the bottle of wine from the back of it without having to move the other bottles with various volumes of liquids in front of it, she heard as the sliding glass door opened, letting a fresh gust of wind sweep and tickle her feet before the loud meows of Gravy were silenced. She let go of the bottle with a bright smile on her face, and just as the fridge door closed, she was swept into cold arms with a deep warm kiss being planted on her lips. 

-

Two years ago, had you told Eve about how her life would be now, she wouldn’t believe you, but she wouldn’t let the scenario leave her head either. Maybe not even two years ago, maybe five years ago, ten years ago, hell, somewhere in her teens. 

But the change wasn’t unwelcomed. 

-

January was always a tough month at the office, new interns, contracts needing renewal, saying goodbye, saying hello, the stress of the holiday weight gain straining the cold joints. 

All in all, January was perhaps the worst month.

Having worked at Fine-Stein Top Security Firm for over ten years, the month’s hustle-bustle had become something short of what Eve looked forward to. She and Elena, having started within a month from each other, and had pressed their desks up against each other so they sat side by side, would snicker and sneer passing each other sticky notes on the newbies. It was Bill’s last year, and Carolyn had, with all her grace, given him the task of training the new interns and contracts their responsibilities. 

“What are we thinking about lunch?” 

Bill had lost their interests and they were bored enough to actually get back to filing away some old reports that hadn’t made it to their computer systems yet. 

Eve exhaled, picking her phone up to check her calendar. “Niko wants to come over and get lunch together. So we’re probably heading to that Irish pub down the street.” 

“You sound _so excited_ that your loving husband is coming over to get lunch with his wife.” 

Eve recoiled, her eyes crossing for a split second before they were able to focus on the fact that she had only gotten as far as to write the last name of the client in the last ten minutes. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, she did, really and truly, loves him with every iota in her being. That’s what she promised him, his family, and everyone in the church the day of their wedding almost 10 years ago. Or had 10 years passed already? They had simply fallen into a small rut, is all. It happened to all the best couples, her then therapist had reassured her for nearly all of their 30 sessions. On the 31st session, she came clean to Niko about therapy and on the 32nd, they were referred to a couple’s therapist. 

The therapist, a happily married woman of 50 -32 of those years of which she’s spent with her darling, incredible, wonderful, mister above and beyond husband- assured them that a few months with her and they’d be as right as rain.

A few months had passed and she didn’t _feel_ as right as rain. 

“Do you think I can fake my death in an hour?” 

“You’d need at least 24,” Elena answered her in the same conversational tone that Eve asked her question, and frustrated, she blew a raspberry and begrudgingly went back to work. 

The hour went by faster than she needed it too, and she was slow to grab her belongings and prepare herself for the outdoors. She’d soon get a text from Niko saying he was downstairs and she knew that was just his most polite way of asking why she wasn’t ready yet. _Well, maybe it’s because I’m backed up on work and it’d be more efficient to eat at the office!_ Even she didn’t believe that she was all that dedicated to Fine-Stein. 

“Good luck with lunch!” Elena called after her, and she only spun back around, her untied scarf hitting her in the face, when Bill yelled a cheerful _ditto_.

“Guys I’m not headed to like a firing squad.” She tried to defend, but the looks that both of them gave her meant that arguing was futile. _Going to a death squad would be better, though._ No.

No.

It wasn’t fair to Niko or herself that their marriage was so dull that being in front of a firing squad would be the most adrenaline she’s felt in months. It just wouldn’t. She was very thankful that she had the luck to have a husband who, although didn’t understand it himself, was willing to work with her to bring their unity back to her satisfaction. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing. 

Ugh. She hated sounding like her mother. 

Padlocks during the middle of the day always had a different energy than Padlocks during the night. During the day, it smelled of divorced dads who needed a drink to get through their workdays and of barflies who have been there since the morning the Korean war began, and of those who somehow believed that curing a hangover with more alcohol was a smart idea. Perhaps it was best to pick a more cheery place to eat lunch. 

But their burgers always hit that sweet spot. 

Niko was already there, chatting with the bartender, and Eve hung back at the door watching how easy it was for him to just have a conversation. A smile tugged at her lips, watching as her husband seemed at ease as he kept talking, and very animatedly, about who knows what. After a few minutes, she realized she probably looked like a complete creep and stepped in. 

“Eve.” He regarded her warmly before embracing her in a tight hug. She did love a good hug, and his hugs were never an exception. When he stepped back, she could see a glint in his eyes that appeared whenever he had a life-changing idea that he was anxious to share. She widened her smile for him. “I ordered your favourite meal, and it’s covered. Come, sit.” He led her to the booth she loved sitting in but never could because it was always preoccupied. 

“So what’s the occasion?” She took off her coat and her scarf now moved to keep her thighs and hips warm. 

“Mocktail for you-” the bartender, _the bartender_ placed the drink in front of Niko and “a gin and tonic for you.” He placed her drink down with a small wink and went to the bar. 

“Niko,” she took a sip and realized with the intense burning sensation why the bartender had winked at her, “what’s going on?”

He ducked his head, bringing it closer to the middle of the table, and she, deciding to be goofy with him, did the same. She could smell the mint gum and coffee breath as he smiled, and wondered which of the two came first. “I think we should get a divorce.” 

She looked in his eyes instead of his moustache and could see the giddiness threatening to spill from his very being. She leaned back to a proper sitting position before taking a hefty sip of her drink. She saw what he did there. Her meal came out and was sat in front of her; two smashed patties with cheese, sauteed onions, shredded lettuce, no tomatoes or pickles, mayonnaise and extra chips. She dipped a chip in some of the grease peeking out from underneath the bun and bit it. After swallowing, she decided it’d be a better dinner and to just have her drink.

“Aren’t you going back to work after?” 

“Elena can handle being alone with Bill for an afternoon. I’ll just stay in a hotel and head hom- to the house in the morning.”

“Eve, it’s still your house.” 

Eve looked around the bar, and she felt as if she were in unfamiliar territory. The guys hanging around still, although logically she knew they were far from interested in their conversation, she still felt as if the place was so quiet their words could still carry over to them, and they feel better about themselves because at least _their_ wives weren’t asking for a divorce on a Tuesday afternoon in a neighbourhood bar. 

“Do you want to go home?” 

Eve nodded. 

She kept drinking and watched as he bagged her food, and they left, Niko holding her food and letting her walk ahead. 

The ride home was quiet and stiff, and halfway through, the alcohol kicked in, making her a little tired. She refused to seek comfort in him so she tried her best to be _fine_. She ate some chips but had to stop because her throat grew so dry. 

Home, Niko gave her the space necessary to drink a glass of water, and then another, and then to pour herself a glass of wine. “Are you serious about this?” 

Niko rose from the couch and placed himself at the table in front of the stove and counter. “What was that? Can I get a glass?” 

Eve gave him the glass in her hand. “Are you serious about this? About the divorce?”

“Eve. You’re unhappy-”

“I’m fine-”

“But you’re not _happy_. It pains me to know that you’re not happy with me, with being married.” 

“Niko-”

“Eve, stop. Listen to me, please.” He rose and stood in front of her, giving her the glass back. She drank it all in one go and set the glass down. “I need you to know that I do love you, and although I’m trying to be happy for you, happy for us, I am pained inside.”

“So then why are you doing it? Why do you want a divorce?” 

“Because I want you to be happy, and if that means that I’ll be unhappy for a while, then so be it.” 

“I don’t-” Eve let the thought linger in the air and she gently shook from his embrace to go sit on the couch. She looked around her and took in how the details of the house hadn’t changed much over the years. They were reluctant to change, she’s noticed and known. The Christmas decorations, little plastic reindeer and tiny uneaten candy canes and a string of unplugged fairy lights lay strewn about, all reminiscent of the decorations used and left from last year and the year before. 

She got it, she did, actually. She knew he cared about her deeply and had always put her happiness before his. But divorce was huge, that was a lifestyle change people very rarely change their mind on. It meant the house, their lives, their friends would be split. The explanation to both their families and friends would be too much to handle. Just the mere _thought_ of having to mention the fact that she would be getting a divorce to her mom made her groan and bury her head in her hands. 

The spot next to her sank and Niko’s warm hand rubbed her back, right above her bra band where it was always sore at the end of the day. “It’s going to be okay.” 

She looked up at him, saw how warm and open he was. Maybe he was right. They did work great together, and they were very good friends at the end of the day, but maybe they just weren’t that great at being _married_. “Do you promise?” Niko nodded and Eve stuck out her pinkie. He, without hesitation, looped his own in her and they kissed them. 

Maybe he was right. And yes, maybe it did take 10 years for them to realize it, and maybe they had realized it earlier than that and just hadn’t yet dared to say so, but they were saying so now, and she thought that it was better than to do that now rather than later. 

-

Six months later, while the sun was belting down and heating up the London air, and the inside of the office was a chorus of groaning of the heat and how they needed more paperweights since the windows were open, Eve didn’t think she could feel better. 

Well, maybe she could.

The night before, after meeting with the divorce lawyer for the last time, Eve went to _her_ house and celebrated just a little too hard for a Monday night, and when she told Elena and Bill, they cheered just a _tad_ too loudly for her sensitive ears.

Still, the high from the night before carried her around the office until she went across the hallway and into the coffee room where it was slightly cooler, and stood looking down at her phone. She hadn’t told her mother yet, and she had texted her the morning before asking how things were going. A wave of guilt crashed through her when her thumb accidentally went to the contact info and she saw the last time they had talked had been three weeks ago, and she had missed three calls since then. 

For years now, her mother had been laid back, figuring she was safely married to Niko, she didn’t need a mother's pestering. However, she now _wasn’t_ married to him anymore, and the devastation of divorce would come barreling to Eve hand in hand with the devastation of the fact that she was single. 

Footsteps approached the coffee room and she lifted her back from where it was resting against the lip of the sink, and while still looking down at her phone, switching from her contact list to her work email list she had yet to respond to, she walked mindlessly towards the direction of the open doorway. She didn’t mind her colleagues in the building, but frankly, besides Elena and Bill, she didn’t need anyone else to read the guilt and despair surely written all over her face from not texting her mother of all things. 

A body bumped directly into hers and in her shock of sudden contact, her phone fell from her grasp, but she heard two phones bounce and clatter on the floor, as well as a word in a language she was vaguely familiar with being hissed. 

“Sorry!”

“Excuse me!” 

Eve blushed when a woman’s voice filled the small space beside her own, and they both bent and bumped heads; a high bun against Eve’s unmanaged hair. She looked up while letting her hand wrapped around the phone, and her eyes locked instantly with the deepest, richest dark green eyes she’s ever seen in her life, a light smattering of faint freckles right underneath each one and she fought not to gasp. They straighten themselves out simultaneously and looked at each other, Eve watching her and she watching Eve. 

“Oxana. A Pleasure.” 

“Eve.” _Same here?_ “I haven’t- I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”

“I just got the contract, I’m from the floor below. They have shitty coffee.” 

Her little side smile showed just a peek of teeth, but it was adorable and sweet all at once. Eve gave one of her own. “Yeah. We switched brands a couple of years and just been in charge of it ever since. You’re welcome to a cup every now and again if you want.”

“Oh thank you, but I think I’ll stick to tea after today.”

“Oh.” _Oh? OH? Eve, please, just think!_ “Well uh, what kind of tea do you drink?” 

Oxana shrugged her shoulders, “the usual. Sometimes chamomile.”

The phone in Eve’s hand pinged and she looked down only to discover that it wasn’t her phone that was over three years old, but the new one that had come out towards the end of the year before. “Oh. I guess we have the wrong phones.” They switched phones with polite giggles, and she was more than relieved that she wasn't the only one blushing here. “So how do you like it here?” _Lame!_

Oxana raised an eyebrow, seemingly confirming what Eve was yelling at herself for. 

“Do you want my number?” Oxana asked instead, and since she didn’t seem to have any more brainpower to verbally confirm, she unlocked her phone and handed it over. 

“Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you around.” Oxana winked once and waltzed out the room, while Eve looked down at her phone, smiling when she saw that she had put a little black heart emoji next to her name when she saved it. A few seconds later and another colleague had entered the coffee room, and Eve was sure that that had been the reason Oxana left a little too suddenly for her taste. 

-

Mid-August rolled in and Eve was hoping the fall winds would come with it. Instead, it felt like the humidity was stacking up, making everything heavier and stickier. Bill had called in sick two days in a row, and Eve was sure it was because he wanted to sit in front of the brand new air conditioning unit he ordered while going through heat exhaustion. She didn’t blame him; in fact, she wanted to _be_ him. But she was sure that her ordering something like that would happen in the next year. 

“Have you heard from Niko?” Elena was across the room, on the floor with boxes around her. The company had recently switched computer programs and the new one had crashed that morning. IT still wasn’t sure what the problem was, but it didn’t help the fact that both of them had to deal with the security claims manually. 

“No.” She sighed. She called four people in the last two hours, and her patience was wearing thin. Her shirt stuck to her back and she groaned, wanting so much relief. “The last time we talked, he suggested dinner, but I don’t know.” 

“Oh, someone’s taking you out to dinner?” 

“Hi, Oxana.” 

“Hello doll. Hi Elena.” Oxana perched himself on the edge of Eve’s desk, after carefully taking her pile of papers and putting them on the floor. Eve hoped she had put the paperweight on top of the papers. The windows were open again, and she really didn’t feel like having to deal with reconstructing a paper stack. 

“Oxana-” Elena rose from her spot, shimming her skirt back down her thighs. She wore a matching black tank, and her blazer was draped on her chair, having been put there three minutes after they had opened the office. “-I have a question for you.” 

Oxana hummed in response while both of them watched Elena approach the desk. As much as Eve definitely didn’t mind having her view _be_ Oxana’s backside, she knew she’d have to push her chair to the side so she could regard Elena and not have to hear additional shit for it. 

“Let’s say you get a divorce right? And you and your ex-spouse are good terms-”

“People divorce on good terms?”

“Well let’s say _you_ did. If you still consider your ex-spouse a good friend, would you have dinner with them?” 

“Well, how long ago was my divorce finalized?” 

“Uh-”

“Almost two months ago,” Eve said behind her, and she opted to look down at her hands when Oxana turned to look at her. 

“Well.” Oxana began. She rubbed her hands on her pants legs. _How can anyone wear pants in this criminalizing heat?_ “I think it’s too soon. I already went through a divorce, now I need time to settle into this friend thing. It takes a special kind of friend to just have a casual dinner with.” 

Elena scuffed and returned to work, and Eve watched as Oxana turned to face her completely. “So speaking of special friends, how about dinner?” 

“I-” _would love to._ “-can’t.” 

Oxana hopped off her desk and said it wasn’t a problem before she tucked a strand of Eve’s hair behind her ear. “Don’t work too hard, ladies!” She called out before leaving the office area. 

“I think she likes you,” Elena said sometime later, which, and Eve hated to admit, she had spent looking at the open door that led to the inactive hallway. She felt as if her heart hadn’t stopped racing since her hair was tucked behind her ear, and in turn, her cheeks hadn’t stopped being flushed. Her cheeks though, she could easily blame on the heat.

“No, she doesn’t.” She finally responded, rolling herself in front of her desk, picking up her phone to call person number 5. 

At home that night, instead of trudging up the stairs to crawl into bed, Eve took advantage of the little burst of energy to take a good hard look around the place. Niko had recently settled in a nice little apartment a little away, and most of his stuff was with him. WIthout his stuff, it just showed how little Eve had put herself in their home. The coffee table lacked books, the couch, its pillows. The kitchen counter lacked its timer and corresponding cookbooks, and the good knives were gone too. She dug in the junk drawer, pulling out half a used sticky note pad and began writing down things she could get to make her home, _her home._

On the couch, a sticky note that read 4 pillows. The counter was going to get one of those timers that looked like a chicken, and she was going to order Indian and Asian and Southern American cookbooks. A new set of knives were in the works, the one with the big block, and after she got a glass of wine in her, and her clothes _off_ her, she began ordering with little worry. 

-

October was welcomed with open arms by Eve, she loved the contrast of bright blue skies and yellowing leaves still clinging on with some hope. Later on was scheduled for rain, and she didn’t mind. Londoners and tourists alike brushed past her and she stepped off the main way to a little back sidewalk where her favourite coffee spot was. She had been _dreaming_ of their cinnamon cream puffs since the first few leaves had yellowed and fallen the week before, and she was anxious to get one in her mouth before having to call into work. 

“Eve!” 

Oxana’s voice startled her slightly from down the block, and she turned to see her, catching her trench coat bellow behind her along with her hair and scarf, a plum turtleneck and black tight jeans and heeled boots. She looked like she had stepped off to do a magazine shoot for a ‘Casual Fall Look’ edition. “Hey!” They kissed each other on the cheeks, and Eve could feel her palms sweat in her pockets. She removed them; they’d been in her pockets for a while now. 

“Elena told me this is where I could find you.” Oxana’s eyes were lighter, somehow, and her smile just a little bit brighter. She saw when Oxana put her hands in her own coat pockets, which opened it just slightly more. 

“Oh yeah, they have incredible cinnamon cream puffs and iced coffee-”

“Well let's go get some!” 

“I- okay!” Eve laughed when she was excitedly pulled to the coffee shop. 

Oxana had ordered two small iced coffees, one with milk, one without, both unbearably sweet, and four cream puffs, all before Eve could tell her it really was no issue. Before she could her wallet out her bag, everything had already been paid for. She was more impressed than anything. They sat at the table by the dessert display with their coffees while they waited for the puffs to be done getting filled. 

“So how are things?” Eve asked, tearing her eyes away from the cutest little toddler she could see from the window at the front of the shop who just wanted to walk independently. When she reached Oxana’s eyes, she had to tear them away. 

“Boring, if I can be honest.” 

“Yeah, I guess security work can be like that.”

“I’m thinking of leaving when my contract is up.” 

“Cream puffs?” Oxana got up to get the plate when their order was called, and she set them down in front of the still stunned Eve. She dug into one happily, exclaiming that Eve had really good taste. 

“When is your contract up?”

“The 3rd of January.” 

“Oh.” 

Eve was slow in eating one of the pastries, but she resided herself to watching the woman in front of her. Oxana took a bite, the final one, and some cream landed on the corner of her mouth, which was swept in with the tip of her pink tongue. She chewed, and wrapped her hand around her coffee and sucked gently on the straw, and that’s when she made eye contact with Eve; with her lips wrapped around the thin black straw, taking slow sips. Eve looked away to focus more on her own puff, but she saw when fingers picked up a second puff. 

“Will you miss me?” 

Eve nodded. 

“A lot?” 

Eve nodded again.

“When I leave will you have dinner with me, then?”

Another nod, followed by a hard swallow. She drank more coffee than she anticipated, but the cool liquid helped quell the heat she felt in her chest. 

“We should get to work. Do you want the last one?”

“Yeah, I’ll eat it on my way.” 

After a long, excruciating day, half of which consisted of Bill and Elena taking turns badgering Eve as to why she was so quiet and pink, Eve was able to drop her bag at the front door of her house and kick her heels off. She plopped herself down on the couch and looked around. She’d need to invest in new Christmas decorations, but frankly, that was starting to be up for debate. 

Her phone rang with a new notification, and she fought to get it out of her coat pocket, before shedding her coat and other winter clothing right there on the couch. The outfit from last Friday was in a heap in front of the heap from Thursday and she knew this new pattern would need to stop somewhere. 

Oxana:

 _So I just heard of the Christmas company dinner and dance._ [19:08]

Eve:

 _Yeah._ [19:10]

 _I go maybe every other year._ [19:10]

Oxana:

 _Heard my plus one can be anyone of my choosing._ [19:11]

Oxana:

 _Would you like to be my plus one?_ [19:12]

Eve:

 _We’ll talk tomorrow._ [19:20]

Eve stared at the text she just sent, wondering _why_ she had said that. Of course, she wanted to be her plus one! She could just _feel_ the warmth of their bare arms touching, constantly brushing up against the other while they sat side by side at the table, and she could just _feel_ the warmth of her hand at the small of her back, and their hands connected as they waltzed. She could _feel_ the breath hitting the back of her neck, the touch of lips by her ear, whispering whatever that she’ll have so much issue absorbing in her overwhelmed mind. 

She went to bed after writing an email declaring she was too sick to go into work the next day.

-

A week passed and Eve hadn't seen Oxana the entire time.

It wasn't that she was worried. She wasn't. Oxana was a work friend, and she was free to do her own thing outside of work. She was just concerned about using up too many of her vacation days.

By Friday, Elena seemed irritated with her failed attempts at _not_ being worried about her. 

"Do you want me to keep the door open, Eve?" Elena asked. Eve hadn't even realized she had stopped working to look in that direction.

"What? I- no. I don't need you to keep the door open, _Elena_."

"Are you sure?" Bill interjected. She looked at him as he did so, and although she was irritated with him, a wave of sadness came over her. His contract would be permanently over after the holiday season, which was fast approaching. "I've never seen you this interested in that door."

"It's because she's waiting for a certain _someone_ to walk through it." Elena wiggled her eyebrows and shimmied her shoulders. 

“Oh? And how could this _someone_ be? Is it the lovely miss Vorontsova?” Bill joined Elena in wiggling his shoulders. 

_Voron- oh no. I’ve never bothered to learn her last name!_ “...no. I’m not waiting for anyone.” Eve ducked her head down to work, but could only focus for a minute or so before her head whipped to the sound of the door opening. 

She couldn’t help but stare at the woman she’s known as Oxana, only because it wasn’t _work_ Oxana, but a rarer form, a purer form; Oxana that rolled out of bed and only had energy to tie her hair back, stuff her feet in her warm boots, and wrap her scarf around her throat and throw her coat on. An Oxana that shut down the snickering from Bill and Elena. 

Eve rose from her desk to get to her, taking a cold hand in hers and into the hallway once more, closing the door behind her. “Oxana. Honey. What’s going on?” 

It seemed, when her eyes met Eve’s, it was like she had been in a haze and had woken up from it. “Can we talk?” 

“Of course. I’ll get my stuff.” When Eve tried to pull her hand away, it was gripped a little tighter. 

“Now?”

“It isn’t a problem. Just wait for a minute.” She comforted Oxana by rubbing her thumb gently on the back of her hand. Oxana let her go and she went back into the room, with her back to the door, trying to avoid Bill and Elena’s questioning eyes and catching her breath.

Bill was the one who came to her first, taking the hand that Oxana had held moments before. “Text me when you two work it out-”

Eve met his eyes, seeing a truth there she had always known was right there, but hadn’t had the strength to admit. “What is there to work out? We’re just work friends.” 

“If that’s something you want to believe, I’m letting you know now that it’s shit.”

In all honesty, she didn’t need this. Oxana needed her on the other side of the door, and she had promised her she’d only be a few moments. But now she was posted up against the door, listening to Bill spew his prolific bullshit on what he _thinks_ is more than a casual office friendship. “Bill. I don’t need this-”

“What? A supportive friend?” 

“You know that’s not what I meant, I mean I don’t need you all in my face saying random bullshit based on your assumptions!” She tried to keep her voice low so it could only be between him and her, but she really had no control over how she hissed the last part of her sentence. She felt the heat rise to her face, and kept staring down the look Bill gave her. She could tell he wasn’t backing down, and although Oxana was still waiting for her, she didn’t feel the need to back down either. 

He opened his mouth to speak, and she watched his lips as he did so, and saw how he seemed to deflate in real-time. “I guess you’re right. You want to help out a friend just like you’d help Elena or me, and I’m in your way.” He backed up to give her room, gesturing vaguely with his arm to her desk. 

“Thank you” she mumbled as she purposefully pushed past him. 

She didn’t look at Elena as she collected her stuff, but did nod her head when she heard Elena loudly whisper “call me”. 

-

When Eve was growing up, she never felt she was capable of being able to effectively help people. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she never could give an answer because she never heard of a job that didn't help people. When she finally grew up and landed at Fine Stein, it felt right, because she was behind the scenes, just filing away claims and going home ready to drink wine and eat pasta. But when Oxana stepped into her home and rested her head on her shoulder on her couch, Eve never felt more comfortable. 

She didn't know why Oxana was so sad, why she had stopped talking to her and texting after Eve was asked to accompany her to the company Christmas dinner. She didn't know why Oxana trusted her so much to be so vulnerable after such little time together. She didn't know why all she wanted to do was hold her close and comfort her. Well. She actually _did_ know, it was because she was sad and Eve didn't feel all that bad trying to grant her some level of happiness. 

She shifted and Oxana shifted with her, and they stayed with Oxana on her chest, resting peacefully. The flood of emotions she had been feeling subsided substantially, and all she was left with was exhaustion. 

Eve remembers when her father had recently passed, she’d run to her mom and seek comfort in being held in her arms. Her mom always wore her dad’s cotton sweaters, and Eve could breathe his memories mingling with the scent of her mom’s herbal perfumes al the same. Her mom would sing to her until Eve fell asleep or was just less restless. 

So she did the same.

“Eve?” Oxana’s voice startled Eve a tiny bit, as she thought the other woman was asleep by then.

“Yes?”

“You have a terrible singing voice.” 

Eve couldn't help but laugh, but she could only stop and smile warmly when she heard Oxana's, and she also couldn't help the way she had to squeeze her gently, feel the warmth of her body pour through the sweater. "Can you tell me what happened?" She asked her in a quiet voice and felt bad when she did as she felt her tense up in her arms. 

Tears began to fall slowly from Oxana's eyes and Eve could only hold her closer, feel her shaking slightly. "My flat it-" a sob made her choke on her words, and Eve soothed her, calmed her as best she could. "It burned." Oxana deflated with the confession, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper, sniffling loudly. "Electrical or something. I don't know." A bitter laugh came from her. "I was out shopping for throw pillows, only to come home and discover I have nowhere to put them."

A tinge went through her chest when she heard Oxana break, and she so desperately wanted her pain to go away, to have her be the calm and collected woman she was used to waltzing in and out of her office whenever she pleased. “Where are you staying now?”

“My uncle’s. I’m fine there, I really am but I just- I miss my flat.”

“Well, what’s the difference between your uncle’s and your flat?” Oxana looked up at her and she rolled her eyes, more at herself than anything, correcting herself. “Why do you miss your flat so much?”

“Well.” Oxana sighed, snuggling impossibly closer against Eve. Eve fought to hold in a sigh of her own. “I miss coming home to seeing myself all over, you know? I get to relax, I get to set my own rules and do things my own way without having to move out the way for anybody else. I get to my uncle's house and I’m nowhere to be found. He’s everywhere.” She sniffed. “And it smells like an old whiskey barrel.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Oxana kept cuddling close to her and burying her head in her chest. Eve worried she might hear how hard her heart was pounding in her chest. _Why is my heart pounding so hard?_ “You have a very cute home.” 

Eve slightly scuffed at her. “Thanks.”

“What?” Oxana picked up her head to look at her “What's wrong with what I said?” 

“Nothing it’s just that I haven’t put in any of me into my home, you know?”

Oxana took a good look around and so did she, her eye-catching on all the imperfections; the dirt that was piling up on its own from lack of sweeping, the few dead flies in a corner next to the tv. The tv being so out of date even though she’s more than capable of getting a new one. 

But the new ones looked so complicated. 

“Well, maybe we can change that?” 

“Oh!” She couldn’t look down at Oxana and she knew she was blushing, so trying was out the window. She could almost picture it, making her home _her home_. Going shop by shop, getting new bedding, maybe some plants, some tablecloths and cute knick-knacks to keep around the house, finally taking the couch pillows out of the box they came in so long ago. She couldn’t really see herself doing stupid small things like that with anyone else. Not even Elena, really. “You know what?” 

“Hmm”

“I think I’d like that.”

Oxana snuggled against her chest some more and Eve didn’t deny herself the opportunity to hold her close.

-

The middle of December was brought in with heavy rains and an even heavier cold. 

Oxana was at work and Eve didn’t want to bother her, making an extra hard effort to ignore her slight barrage of texts that were coming in every quarter of the hour. She rolled in bed, trying to gain any sort of relief from the immense pressure in her head, and the ache in her back and soul, but it only made her more tired. 

When she woke for the third -or was it the fourth?- time that day, it was to the sound of Oxana opening her bedroom door and a chorus of plastic bags rustling in her hands. “Eve!”

“Oxana, honey-”

“Oh, to loud?”

Oxana sat at the foot of her bed, the bags resting at her feet. It was hard to keep her eyes open. “How was work?”

“I skipped.” Eve could hear the smirk clear as day in Oxana’s voice, and it cost her to roll her eyes. 

“Oxana-”

“It was for a good cause!” The sudden rise in Oxana’s voice made Eve flinch slightly. She wished she had the proper energy to deal with her. “You were dying-”

“I have a cold-”

“-and since I didn’t want you to die, I searched everywhere for the right things to get you!”

It’d be too futile to fight her, and so she didn’t, opting instead to stretch her hand out to get the bags from her. Oxana handed her one, and she placed the bag on her tummy. It grumbled in response. 

“Elena asked for you, I told her she could stop by.” Oxana’s voice had gone quiet then, and when Eve shot her eyes open to look at her, she was only able to get a quick glance at the look of remorse before the doorbell rang. Oxana was only able to mouth a quick _sorry_ before her spot was replaced with Elena’s.

Elena fussed over her, made sure she took the proper meds and drank water, filling up the three hours she spent at her house with office gossip, how she’s spent the time bothering Bill. SHe made Eve feel as if she had been missing for the entire month, and not just a week sick with a hellish cold. 

“So,” Elena lowered her voice and looked around the room, taking care to stare down the closed bedroom door, prompting Eve to roll her eyes, “what’s the deal between you and Oxana?”

“Oh yes!” Eve pushed herself up impossibly further up her fortress of pillows and blankets, nodding her head dramatically. “The deal between her and I is, she stays in my house while her flat gets fixed and we act like complete roommates.” 

“Eve.” Elena tilted her head to the side in her classic annoyed stance. Eve fluffed her hair. It needed a wash.

“Elena.” She sighed. “Seriously, what did you expect was going to happen between us?” She pushed herself forward so she could make herself closer to Elena. She tried not to be to close, her mouth still had yet to be washed. “You expected us to have a steaming romance, where every night after _rounds_ of passionate sex, we confess to each other time and time again how much we _longed_ for each other’s touch and affection?”

“Yes!” Elena’s screech felt like her head was getting ready to implode. 

Eve sighed, feigning exhaustion with the issue.“You saw how she looked after disappearing for a week. I couldn’t and won’t take any advantage of anyone like that. Besides. She needed a home and I have a home, so I was just being _smart_ and kind.” 

“It’s because you like her isn’t it.”

“I don’t like her in the way you’re insinuating. I like her as a good friend.” 

“Still on with the same story?” Elena shook her head and checked her phone in her hand. “Bill wants to know if you’re going to the Christmas party?” 

“Is he going?” 

“Yeah. It’ll be his last year so,” Elena shrugged and Eve shook her head. _It’s his last year._ She wonders what he’ll do without her, without them, by his side five days out of the week. She could see could him getting fat. She almost smiles. “Well, I have to head home.” 

“Oh.” Eve snaps from her little place of imagining Bill a month into the future and straightens out a tiny bit. “I’ll get you a cab.”

“Oh, would you really?”

“Yeah,” Eve grunted as she got up from the bed, nearly tripping on the bottom of her pyjama pants that were meant for a person a foot taller than her and grabbing her phone. She was peeved when it showed that her phone was at less than 30 per cent since she hadn’t used it, but who is she to know how that happened. 

They waited for Elena’s cab to arrive, Elena chiding the entire time that Eve should wait inside and watch from the glass since she was shivering, but Eve ignored her the entire time. They waved goodbye and Eve watched as the cab went on its way until it disappeared around the bend. 

When she turned, her hand on the knob, she heard a small squeak coming from the bush she never tends to on the side of her steps. 

Surely, she was experiencing auditory hallucinations, there was never anything alive in that bush. Her cold must be extremely severe. But still, she waited for a beat, and the little squeak _did_ happen again, and she stepped down to peer down. 

She couldn’t see.

She turned on the torch on her phone, and when she looked down on the barren bush, she could see two little reflective orbs looking back at her. Her breath was caught in her throat, and she wanted to yell out to Oxana, hope she could hear her from wherever she may be, but she didn’t want to scare the little thing away. 

Getting the little kitten into the house was a lot easier than she anticipated. 

But that was the _only_ easy part.

When she put him down, all bundled up and dirtying up her fluffy sky blue knit scarf, letting him rest on the couch so she could find Oxana when they returned, the little one had gone missing. The next three hours consisted of crawling around on the floor, a close approximation of a breakdown on Eve’s behalf, and Oxana close to convincing her that perhaps Eve had indeed gone a little mental. But she hadn’t! They later found him when thick slurping sounds came from the bowl of gravy that Oxana had left next to another bowl of mash. Both were made for Eve. Both women were equally relieved that neither of them was needing a trip to the hospital anytime soon. And both had no idea how he had gotten so high up on the kitchen counter when he was a mere few centimetres from the floor. 

Both really loved the name Gravy for him. 

They decided on a nicely rated and reasonably priced vet care to take him to in the morning after some time of debate and wiped as much dirt off him as possible. Oxana was quick with the dirty pussy jokes, and although it left her hacking up a lung, Eve laughed at each one. In the end, it left them all tired, and yet astounded that it wasn’t even 22:00 yet. 

“So. Where is he sleeping?” They were on the couch, Eve having found a nice little blanket for him to stay wrapped up in during the night. The office opened at 8, and Eve was anxious to go. The only thing she knew about kittens was that they required constant feeding, and there was nothing to feed him that would benefit him. 

“He could sleep with you.” Eve yawned, not bothering to fight them anymore. She was tired, that was highly evident. 

“Why not with you? You found him.”

“Yeah, but you helped take care of him the most tonight.” 

“Okay, but that wouldn’t have happened had you not brought him inside-”

“Why don’t we both sleep with him?” Eve was feeling her limbs grow heavy, and the thought of still having to climb those stairs to get to her bed in her state was wearing on her. She just wanted the discussion to end. 

“I- are you okay with that?”

Eve nodded, and she felt like Oxana could understand that she just simply wanted to go to bed and end the discussion. 

“Okay.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> okay yes i know this chapter doesn't even come close to getting anywhere near first christmas but the chapter was long enough and also it's a little overdue so ill just try to make it all up next chapter :)


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